The Determinants and Value Relevance of the Choice of Accounting for Research and Development Expenditures in the United Kingdom
研究英国公司如何选择研发支出的会计处理方法（费用化或资本化），发现盈利波动、公司规模、研发强度等因素影响选择，且两种方法的价值相关性差异不大。
Abstract: This paper investigates the determinants and value relevance implications of the accounting method choice for development expenditures for firms with research and development (R&D) programs in the United Kingdom (UK). Using a sample of 3,229 UK firm‐year observations over the period 1996–2004, I find that the decision to expense versus capitalize development expenditures is influenced by earnings variability, earnings sign, firm size, R&D intensity, leverage, steady‐state status of the firm's R&D program, and R&D program success. Additional results indicate that there is little difference in value relevance between reported and adjusted numbers for both the Expensers and the Capitalizers. The evidence in this paper suggests that managers choose the ‘correct’ method for accounting for R&D in order to best communicate the private information which they hold.